Back in the Knitting Saddle

It's been way too long since I've had the knitting needles out, so in this post-Christmas lull I've cast on.


Sophia Cowl by Green Bee Design

And just in time for the knitting bug to bite again, I see there's a Downton Abbey Knit Along! Um, yes please!

Gifts & Such

Happy New Year to all!

The gifts have all been given, so I can now share the projects I've been working on the past few weeks...

Red & White Heart Embroidery


A gift for my grandmother-in-law who turned 100 a couple of weeks before Christmas. Pattern found via Pinterest.

Hummingbird Mini Quilt


A little hummingbird mini quilt for my grandma. Grandma always had hummingbird feeders on her back deck when I was growing up. These little birds make me think of the summer afternoons spent at Grandma's pool, watching the hummingbirds flit around her backyard.



I tried something new with this little quilt-- triangles sewn into the binding to use for hanging. I really like the look and will definitely use these on future projects!

Kitty Potholders


A set of potholders for a cat lover in the family, made using this tutorial. My first time using Insul-Bright, and now that I have some on hand I see lots of potholders in my future!

Mug Rugs






Mug rugs to go along with some photo mugs I had made for the grandparents. I love them all, but I think the flower may be my favorite!

Star Wars Cover


A heavily-padded electronic gadget cover for my son. I was going for ultra-protection, but the first version I made was sooo thick with batting that the tablet wouldn't fit! Adjustments were made and eventually there was a functional case.



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Not only were gifts given, but I also received some great sewing gifts! I've got lots of inspiration to keep me busy in 2013!

Mini Tree Quilt

I made a little Christmas tree quilt... with enough time left to actually enjoy it a bit before Christmas. It's a holiday miracle!



Back in November, I mentioned that I saw this plate at Target:



And thought it was the perfect inspiration for a quilt. I'm so proud of myself for actually getting it done! So many times, I see non-quilty objects and say to myself, "That would make a great quilt design!", but that's as far as it goes. Nice to follow through for once!



This quilt was a nice distraction from all the holiday gift sewing I've been doing. Too many late nights, and a bit of rushing, has made for some frustrating work. The seam ripper has been working overtime lately. Luckily, this was a problem-free, relaxing project. But now it's back to my elf-ly duties as I desperately try to finish all my half-finished gifts!

WIP Wednesday - 11/28/12

Done:
A cozy little flannel & minky quilt I posted about yesterday.



In Progress:
It's Christmas Gift Crunch Time! I'm going to have to be more selective about what I share here, but I think I won't spoil any surprises by sharing these two gifts I'm working:



This hummingbird paper pieced block was inspired by a post I saw on the Sew, Mama, Sew! blog a while back. I downloaded the free origami font mentioned in the post and used it to trace my pattern in EQ7.



The SMS post uses a freezer paper method of paper piecing, which I've never done. I just printed out my pattern and used the regular ol' sew-on-the-lines, through-the-paper, method (that's the official name of the technique, right?).



And here's a little cross stitch gift I started this past weekend. I always underestimate the time it will take to finish a cross stitch project. I look at a pattern and say to myself "that looks fast and simple!" and then about halfway through, I'm all "Why am I only half finished?!?".

Flannel & Minky Baby Quilt

Last week I finished a quilt for one of my closest friends who just had a baby. Baby #4 to be specific! When you have 4 kids, you pretty much have all the baby stuff you need, so I think it's nice to make something special and one-of-a-kind for the newest member of the family. This quilt is flannel on one side and minky on the other—perfect for cuddling a little one!



I started two other baby quilts before finally settling on this one (you can see the other two in-progress here). I'm glad I choose this one to finish because I just love how it turned out. I had bits and pieces of two different flannel collections from Hoffman- To the Rescue and Beep! Beep!. I think the biggest piece I had to work with was about 10" x 15". So it was just a matter of putting up pieces on the design wall and seeing how it could all fit together.



I left out the batting, because I didn't want to make it to heavy which I think can happen when you're using minky. I also kept the quilting fairly light (just large diamonds) and it has a wonderful drapey feel. My only regret is that I didn't take better photos of this quilt, but I was in a bit of a hurry to give it to this little guy!

Weekends Tumbler Quilt

I finished my tumbler quilt about a week ago and I love the way it turned out!



While blogging has helped me get a bit more motivation to finish projects, it's also made it possible for me to look back and see exactly how long ago I started something. I first cut out those tumblers way back in February.

This quilt came together slowly. At first I was just using the the green colorway of this fabric collection, but all the patches just blended together. It needed more contrast so I added the solid aqua. Better, but not quite enough. So I cut some more tumblers from the violet colorway and it worked! Adding the violet colorway also allowed me to get in some more of those little bike prints. Squee!



I tried a finishing technique with this quilt that I've never done before. Rather than binding the quilt, I finished it with a facing (using this tutorial). I had wanted to bind it with the solid aqua, but I didn't have enough left. And this fabric had been sitting in my stash for ages, so I didn't have a color name/number, and I couldn't find a good match in any of my local fabric shops. So facing, with no fabric showing on the front, was the perfect solution.



I quilted it with simple straight lines, about 1/4" from the seams. The solid aqua tumblers got an extra outline stitch on the inside. You can see the quilting really well on the back. I like the back almost as much as the front!



And, just for fun, a peek at one of my little helpers:

WIP Wednesday - 11/14/12

Done:
My Weekends tumbler quilt! I'll be writing about it soon.



And to celebrate corduroy day, I made a sunglasses case.



In Progress:
I've had battling baby quilts up on my design wall for a couple of weeks.



I couldn't decide which one I wanted to finish for an expecting friend. She ended up having her baby a week early, so the pressure was on. This weekend I started a brand new baby quilt, and I'm almost done quilting it!



It has minky on the back and feels soooo cozy. It's gonna be hard to give this one up. But it is baby-sized so if I used this quilt, it would only keep a third of me cozy.

Future Projects?
I was at Target last night and saw this cute plate:



And now I want to make a quilt inspired by it. Will this actually materialize? Odds aren't good, as the number of things I want to make and the actual time I have to make all these things don't match up. But here's hoping!

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Giveaway!
I posted a little giveaway yesterday to celebrate my 100th post, so please hop over and leave a comment to enter!